Before utilising Getinge’s Sterile Supply Management technology T-DOC, one of the major hospitals in Singapore was spending more than half a million Singapore dollars annually to handle and track surgical tools. 

The hospital’s Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD) staff were handling more than 4,000 kinds of instruments and tracking each tool’s movement manually with a paper form. Consequently, instrument-set errors due to the late updating of changes on the various paper forms and inventory losses occurred because instruments could not be traced. 

Seeking to revamp the workflow of the department and the traceability of their vast inventory of surgical tools, the hospital turned to Getinge’s T-DOC’s barcode instrument-management system. 

Using the latest technology, the system enabled the tracking of day-to-day functions such as decontamination, assembly, sterilisation record keeping and loading and unloading of equipment. In addition, automatic alerts were issued to staff when deviations from the standard sterilisation processes occurred. 

The T-DOC system also made possible the identification of each instrument and allowed it to be traced, leading to a reduction in sterile-processing time. Staff were able to make data-driven decisions as they could now see the supply and demand of each instrument, allowing them to prepare instrument sets before requests were made, further improving the department’s efficiency. 

Financial benefits

The financial savings enabled by T-DOC were significant, with savings in excess of half a million Singapore dollars annually due to more accurate billing of instruments used. There were additional savings of more than a hundred thousand Singapore dollars from the reduction of excessive inventory procurement and from improved productivity. 

Furthermore, surgical tools could now be reissued within one day of when it was last used due to the increased efficiency in instrument reprocessing. Automation reduced the time spent on the task by five minutes per instrument set, amounting to almost 2000 processing hours saved per month. Visual display of end-user requests also enabled staff to fast-track any urgent request so that surgeries can be performed without delay. 

With an electronic trail on all sterile instruments, staff could also follow up on instruments or sets that were distributed but not returned after three days. More importantly, soiled instruments or sets could be promptly collected for reprocessing. This helped to increase the lifespan of instruments and protected patients as the surgical instruments were less prone to staining and corrosion which led to an increase in the effectiveness of cleaning. 

Staff well-being and development

Staff also benefited from the implementation of T-DOC as the system encourages knowledge translation and continuous learning as staff are more empowered and engaged with their work. Since using the system, the hospital’s CSSD was recognised by the department of Medical Social Services as one of the happiest departments in the hospital.

T-DOC brought about an improved work environment, greater productivity, and increased safety for patients and personnel.  It also contributes to annual savings related to increased productivity and reduced waste. The encouraging results prove that the system can support hospitals to adapt to the changing landscape of the healthcare industry. 

To learn more about T-DOC, click here. Reach out to us if have any further enquiries.

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